Top Law Schools

i'm curious what people's thoughts are regarding which of the two above mentioned scenarios is more competitive.

From personal experience, i went to a decent (top 50) private undergrad and majored in business. upon entering the job market i had a lot of opportunities to work at big companies but the positions were always in more of an operational capacity. Despite the fact that i graduated with a 3.9 gpa, getting a front-office analyst position at a big bank seemed nearly impossible while friends of mine at ivy league schools seemed to have no problem whatsoever getting a job at any back of their choice without gpa's even close to mine. based on my undergrad experience i would say going to the right school really made a difference, do you think this is more or less the case in law school?

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Here is the principal difference: Ibanking is concentrated in certain cities - NY, LA, Chicago, Atlanta. There are fewer positions for ibanking analysts than there are decent jobs for lawyers. You can graduate with a 4.0 in undergrad but if your school is not highly regarded by an ibanking regional office, you won't get an offer. On the flip side, if you finish with a 3.9 at Univ. Minnesota Law you better believe you will land a sweet job in Minneapolis. Or if you graduate at the top at IUB you can land a great job in Indianapolis. I think for ibanking it matters much more where you went to school, and how well that school is regarded in America's largest markets.

talibkweli wrote:

ixpresxi wrote:i'm curious what people's thoughts are regarding which of the two above mentioned scenarios is more competitive.

From personal experience, i went to a decent (top 50) private undergrad and majored in business. upon entering the job market i had a lot of opportunities to work at big companies but the positions were always in more of an operational capacity. Despite the fact that i graduated with a 3.9 gpa, getting a front-office analyst position at a big bank seemed nearly impossible while friends of mine at ivy league schools seemed to have no problem whatsoever getting a job at any back of their choice without gpa's even close to mine. based on my undergrad experience i would say going to the right school really made a difference, do you think this is more or less the case in law school?

purely as a matter of applicants vs spots, getting an analyst gig at a bulge bracket is more difficult than getting into big law via a t14 law school. by several orders of magnitude, in fact.

however, for individuals, it depends on the specific circumstances. an all-around impressive girl with a 3.2 at princeton has a much better chance at goldman than cravath. on the other hand, a 4.0 kid from a little known state school has better odds at big law than ibanking.

I believe this is true. I worked as an analyst at a bulge bracket right out of undergrad. I was involved in recruiting and we only allowed applicants from approximately 10 schools and basically threw out a resume if the GPA was below a 3.5. This was in M&A, however. For trading roles, it is a bit different.

ixpresxi wrote:i'm curious what people's thoughts are regarding which of the two above mentioned scenarios is more competitive.

From personal experience, i went to a decent (top 50) private undergrad and majored in business. upon entering the job market i had a lot of opportunities to work at big companies but the positions were always in more of an operational capacity. Despite the fact that i graduated with a 3.9 gpa, getting a front-office analyst position at a big bank seemed nearly impossible while friends of mine at ivy league schools seemed to have no problem whatsoever getting a job at any back of their choice without gpa's even close to mine. based on my undergrad experience i would say going to the right school really made a difference, do you think this is more or less the case in law school?

school prestige matters in law, but its easier than breaking into banking. if you graduate at the top of a non-elite law school you can still get looked at. it IS however much easier to get biglaw from an elite institution.